Paramedics rolled Jeremiah Dixon into the emergency department on a gurney after he’d made multiple attempts to take his own life. Less than a day later, he was discharged and sent by taxi to a local homeless shelter.
“I was scared and shocked,” the 19-year-old said in an interview at his family home in Dartmouth, N.S. “I was still like dizzy and stuff, and they just sent me off with some snacks and a ride to the shelter.
Jeremiah, who has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and borderline personality disorder, says he’s experienced suicidal thoughts since he was about eight years old.
For as long as he can remember, he’s struggled to regulate his impulses and behaviour — a common symptom of both conditions.
Pretty appalling that Nova Scotia health wouldn’t even talk to CBC about what their discharge policies are.
Honestly feels like they should be mandated to provide most policies if anyone asks. They’re a public institution, their bosses are the citizens of the province.
It’s probably a more common occurrence than we know. If the issue at hand is not the focus of the institution, then they might just want to push it off on someone else.
Here in America, I knew someone who was suicidal once & they were taken by police to a local hospital for psychiatric care. They didn’t do drugs or alcohol, so the psych ward didn’t know what to do with them. After being confined for three days, they were sent home with no treatment whatsoever - the three days only happened because it happened on a Friday & there was nobody of any authority around on a weekend to decide what to do.